Imagine a smart contract which requires two digital keys to unlock a payment or release an asset. Both parties to the contract hold a key, with a third held by the court. In the event of a dispute, the court rules in favour or one or other of the parties \u2013 and unlocks the contract at the same time. This is just one of the ideas bouncing around the creation of the world\u2019s first digital economy court (DEC), the latest initiative of the pioneering Dubai International Financial Centre Courts in the United Arab Emirates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The DEC was set up as a specialist division of the courts to \u2018facilitate the efficient and modern resolution of digital economy disputes\u2019. Other jurisdictions, not least in the UK, will be watching with interest. The DIFC courts administer an English-language common law system alongside the UAE\u2019s Arabic language civil law jurisdiction. It has spawned many imitators in the Gulf and beyond since its establishment in 2004. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In the first six months of this year, the main court of first instance handled 52 cases with an average value of \u00a390m; half of the cases are from parties actively opting in to its jurisdiction. Procedures are unapologetically modelled on the English system, but with an appetite for innovation and the adoption of new technologies \u2013 this year the DIFC opened the world\u2019s largest solar-powered data centre. The DEC division is the latest step in the creation of a \u2018multidoored courthouse\u2019, the judge in charge, Michael Black KC of XXIV Old Buildings, told the Gazette. Its services include mediation, early neutral evaluation and a digital vault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A recent success is its wills registration service for nonMuslims. Among the probate orders granted this year was one for the estate of aviation entrepreneur Hamish Harding, Titan submersible. The new court will take over some of the caseload of the DIFC\u2019s technology and construction court, with its own set of rules. It will offer specialist expertise and its own procedure rules. These will cut down the time needed to get to the case management conference, Black said. \u2018We then decide how to tailor the procedure to the particular case.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Its first case is listed for January, an appeal in a dispute over the liability of a trusted intermediary when one of the parties to a contract is fraudulent. Black expects plenty of case traffic involving the fast-moving crypto scene \u2013 but he declined to predict what the eventual case mix will look like. He expects to see \u2018quite a bit of regulation work\u2019 and disputes arising from nonfungible tokens and Dubai\u2019s thriving art market. \u2018We are in unknown territory \u2013 every case is going to be a learning experience,\u2019 he said. \u2018I want to start off with the ability to be flexible.\u2019 Cases involving parties registered with the DIFC automatically fall under the court\u2019s jurisdiction, But Black hopes to attract a significant proportion of opt-ins attracted by speedy and expert service. \u2018I\u2019m pretty optimistic we\u2019re going to have a fairly wide jurisdiction.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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All this creates huge opportunities for English law firms which already dominate the Dubai legal scene, Black said. He is profoundly irritated by depictions of the DIFC as an \u2018offshore\u2019 entity. \u2018There is nothing offshore about the DIFC \u2013 it is highly regulated, with transparent laws, transparent ownership registers.\u2019 After nearly 20 years of practising in the courts \u2013 where he spends half of his working time \u2013 he is proud of the DIFC\u2019s role in promoting young Emirati nationals, particularly women. \u2018Within the junior ranks of judicial officers we\u2019re 60% female, which reflects the demographics of people coming into the profession.\u2019 If it becomes reality, the smart contract execution service is likely to pique the interest of the current master of the rolls \u2013 a passionate enthusiast for on-chain procedures. However, Black points out that such innovations are much easier to introduce in a small, flexible jurisdiction with a \u2018can-do\u2019 mindset. \u2018In Dubai they are not afraid to be innovative, not afraid to fail. We are unapologetically experimental.\u2019 Whether England and Wales chooses to adopt any of the DIFC\u2019s innovations remains to be seen. But one certainty, Black says, is that the global digital economy will create plenty of work for dispute resolution in completely novel areas. \u2018Who knows what cases will come in the door?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imagine a smart contract which requires two digital keys to unlock a payment or release an asset. Both parties to the contract hold a key, with a third held by the court. In the event of a dispute, the court rules in favour or one or other of the parties \u2013 and unlocks the contract … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-desk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2622"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4812,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622\/revisions\/4812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imt360demo.com\/kasol\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}